NORFOLK, Va. – The Clarion men's basketball team faced off against Division 1 opponent Norfolk State in an exhibition match Saturday night, falling by a final score of 74-46. The Golden Eagles will open up their home schedule against the Thiel Tomcats on Tuesday, November 13^th. Tip-Off is set for 7 PM at the Student Recreation Center.
 
Junior Lawrence Lemon got the scoring started for Clarion early in the first half, nailing a 3 pointer off of an assist from Elijah Cottrill just thirty seconds into the ballgame. Lemon finished the night with a team high 13 points, while grabbing 4 rebounds. Stevan Rodriguez added 8 points and 9 rebounds, while dishing out 2 assists. Freshman James Price picked up quality minutes off the bench for the Golden Eagles, contributing 5 points and 2 rebounds.
 
Norfolk State built a 6 point lead with just under six minutes remaining in the first half, but a great stretch of shooting found the Blue and Gold closing the gap. RJ Laugand grabbed a defensive rebound with 3:35 left in the half and converted a 3 pointer on the offensive end to pull Clarion within 2. The Spartans countered though, with Jordan Butler scoring in the paint on Norfolk State's next trip down the floor.
 
The lead quickly increased to 7 before the end of the half but Clarion responded with a pair of free throws from Cottrill, with 28 seconds left, to head into the locker room trailing 27-32.  
 
Lemon opened the second half much like the first, nailing a three pointer, this time off an assist from Rodriguez to pull Clarion within 2. Cottrill scored a bucket at the 16:33 mark to make it 41-34, but from there Norfolk State took full control, holding the Golden Eagles to just 19 second half points. The Spartans caused 15 turnovers in the second half, finishing with an impressive 25 turnovers on the night, while shooting just above 46% from the floor.